Dexter council reviews budget

DEXTER — Councilors here have completed their line-by-line review of the town’s 1993-1994 budget. Final approval of the document is expected to take place at a meeting on July 8.

On Tuesday night, the council held their final budget workshop. Steve Whitesel, town manager, told the board that although their work appeared to be completed, a final budget for the town might not be available until after voters in SAD 46 approve the educational budget for next year. That action may not occur until mid-August, but according to the town charter, the council must accept a budget for the coming year at their first meeting in July.

Next year’s budget includes $790,000 in education costs for next year, the same amount that was approved last year. That figure for the town might increase, Whitesel said, if voters in the district decide to increase local option requests next year. If so, councilors would have to adjust the budget to reflect the increase at a future public meeting.

During the past several workshops, the council has pared down the budget to under $3 million. Some of the accounts reviewed Tuesday night included the ambulance account, building maintenance, recreation and the cemetery account.

Whitesel said that he would join the cemetery sexton, Maurice Neal, to look into the establishment of a cemetery board to oversee the administration of the cemetery trust fund. He said that there appeared to be more than $300,000 in the trust fund. Officials discussed the possibility of using the interest from the fund to pay for capital outlay for the cemetery now funded by the town.

A new computer system for the town office was discussed, but Whitesel recommended that such a purchase be postponed until finances improved.

Councilors discussed an increase in the cost of hydrant rental that the town pays to the Dexter Utility District. Several current and former firefighters at the meeting said that some hydrants in town were not functioning as well as they should and Whitesel stated that he would contact the utility district to see if the problem could be corrected.

The Fire Department’s account also was reviewed a second time by the council. They agreed to allocate $5,000 for new equipment purchases next year, but to hold off on other purchases. The consolidation of dispatching of all of the town’s emergency departments into one radio system was discussed. The group agreed that more research was needed. Councilors did agree to a salary increase for officers of the department.